Disclaimer: I do now own Jack Frost, Bunnymund or any other characters from the Rise of the Guardians universe, I just love them a lot!
Here is chapter three. After some serious thought and planning, I think that there is going to be one more chapter in this story, and that this story will be the final installment in this particular story universe. Most of the plot elements I had planned for the piece after this one got resolved one way or another in this story, so I no longer feel it needs to be written. Hope you enjoy this chapter and let me know what you think in the comments ^_^
Week 1
Jack and Aster walked slowly through the tunnels leading from North's palace back to their warren. It had taken them ten minutes of arguing to decide that Jack would tell the others, 5 minutes to convince Tooth and Sandy that they were serious, and nearly two hours to finally pry themselves away from their ecstatic family. Tooth would be stopping by as often as she could to help out with whatever Aster needed. Sandy promised not to visit any more than usual, which Jack appreciated and he suspected Aster did too. Jamie had been nearly giddy with happiness for his friends, answering Jack's accusatory "You knew" with a grinning "Of course I knew."
As they walked, Jack's hand intertwined with Aster's larger paw. Jack began thinking about what was going to happen. He knew all the stereotypes about pregnant women's mood swings and craving and all that. He knew that Aster would be getting a fair amount bigger to make room for the child now growing inside him, he knew he'd be giving birth to-... Jack looked up at Aster, stopping suddenly and asked "Aster, how exactly will the baby…get out?"
Aster looked at Jack for a moment then said "same way it would with a female."
It took Jack a moment of staring at the ground to process that horrifying thought before looking at Aster again. The look of horror on his face shifting to irritation as he saw the amusement of Aster's. "You're an ass." He said, hitting the rabbit lightly on the arm.
Laughing at Jack's reaction, Aster said "Alright alright, honest answer. The babies are cut out once the time comes."
That thought was, well, a lot better than the previous but still not good. "Wont that hurt you?" Jack asked, concerned.
"No, don't ask me how but within a day or two of the birth the wound heals over as if it was never there." Aster said, still chuckling to himself.
Surprise and relief washed over Jack in equal measures, one less thing to worry about.
Week 2
"And this one" Tooth said, pulling the eleventh "onesie" from her bag "Is special from Baby Tooth." It was a bright green garment with little white snowflakes sewn into it.
Jack took the clothing and passed it to Aster with a smile. Tooth's fairies had apparently spent all their off time in the last week making cloths for their baby. Jack was touched by the gesture and had thanked her several times, which she had waved off with a smile. Handing the small garment back to Tooth, jack thanked her again, as did Aster while she hugged them both before flying out the door.
"That was unexpected." Jack said, looking at the bag of clothing on their kitchen table.
"Really?" Aster said, arching an eyebrow.
"Well, I suppose not." Jack admitted with a laugh as he walked over and sat down next to Aster who pulled him close. Jack smiled snuggling closer to his husband. One less thing to worry about.
Week 3
Jack was awakened by a gentle jostling as Aster slipped out of their bed, heading quickly toward the bathroom. Jack suppressed a sleepy chuckle, second time that night his husband had rushed off to the bathroom; he assumed it was a pregnancy thing. "You alright?" Jack asked when Aster returned several minutes later. A low angry rumble was all he got in response, which surprised Jack "Did you just growl at me?" he asked incredulously.
Aster sighed as he pulled Jack against him, his larger body warping around Jack protectively "Sorry." Said quietly.
Jack chuckled "It's fine, I just didn't know rabbits could growl." Aster chuckled at that, wrapping Jack a little tighter in his arms as they both slipped back into sleep.
Jack was returning to the burrow after checking over the warren's security spells, a precaution that everyone deemed necessary since Ire's rebirth into the world. None of the guardian's had seen any sign of the spirit of anger since he had taken over Kyle's body. As Jack opened the door his nose was assaulted by an odd mixture of scents, a combination of something rich and sweet, something salty with the unmistakable odor of brine. Looking around the small living room he saw Aster sitting on their loveseat, dipping a large pickle into a tub of buttercream frosting and eating it with a crunch. Jack stared at his husband in incredulous shock, his mouth hanging open and his eyebrows furrowed. "What one earth are you eating?" he asked, a chuckle coloring his voice.
"It tastes good asshole" he said defensively.
Jack started, taken aback by the venom in Aster's tone "Whoa, I'm just kidding…" Jack said a little hurt.
"I know, I'm sorry I snapped at you, I didn't mean to." Aster said quietly, he sounded like he might start crying at any moment. Jack started at the sudden change in his husband's mood…oh crap - mood swings. He walked over and cautiously wrapped his arms around Aster's neck, gently stroking the fur on his husband's head as he leaned into the hug. "I'm going crazy." Aster said with a sad chuckle.
"No, you're just pregnant." Jack said comfortingly, the words still sounding off in reference to his husband. "And now I sound crazy, telling my husband he's pregnant." That brought a chuckle from Aster as the two snuggled closer.
Week 4
Jack winced in sympathy as the sound of retching reached him from the bathroom, the third time that day, wishing there was something he could do and feeling helpless because there wasn't. After several more moments and a stomach turning splash, Aster returned looking queasy and a little unsteady. Jack rushed over and ducked under his rabbit's arm, supporting some of his weight. "I thought they called this morning sickness" Aster grumbled.
"They do." Jack said confused.
"Well its four a clock in the afternoon, so what the hell is it still doing around?" Aster said, irritation clear in his voice.
Jack laughed as he said "Must have been a man who named it." He and Aster looked at each other for a long moment before both burst out laughing at the irony of the comment.
Week 8
Jack stalked through the burrow, his eyes scanning the ground intently. He was on a mission. He knelt down whipping a hand along the floor; bring it up, clutching a fist full of long gray and white fur. He knew it! Aster was shedding, he had no other word for it. Fur was just something one learned to live with when you were married to a seven foot Pooka, but it had never been so prevalent until the last week roughly. Jack assumed it had something to do with the pregnancy. The thought only sounding a little weird by this point as he examined the fur clutched in his grip. Even stranger was that Aster's fur seemed to be growing extremely quickly, the soft layer noticeably longer then Jack was used to.
Jack was just getting out their seldom used broom when Aster stepped into the room from the bathroom, his fur still damp from his bath. Aster looked better than he had in a few weeks which made Jack smile. His husband's morning sickness had all but cleared up by this point, only occasionally showing itself in the actual morning. His mood had settle down as well much to Jack's relief. It was far less fun to poke fun with his rabbit when Aster was liable to snap at him, say something hurtful and then break down in tears and apologize. He was still have cravings for extremely strange things, the oddest in Jack's opinion was a hard-boiled egg dipped in melted chocolate and topped with just a dap of ketchup.
Jack's happy grin softened into something more tender as his eyes traveled down Aster's body, the water slicking his fur down making the small bump in his stomach more pronounced. Jack remembered Tooth's shrill shout of "Your showing!" and the look of embarrassment and happiness that it had produced on Aster's face when they'd been visiting North's for a checkup. Jack felt that same happiness as he gazed at the slight rounding of his husband's otherwise very flat abs, the first true proof that there was a child growing there. Jack walked over and laid his hand on the bump, smiling at Aster as a large paw covered over his hand. He leaned up kissing his husband softly, his free hand weaving through the longer than usual fur of his cheek.
Week 10
Jack was kneeling on the couch next to Aster, running a brush through his husband's thick fur. Something that he did whenever they had some downtime, both because it relaxed Aster and because it would mean less sweeping later. "Tooth wants to throw you a baby shower."
"Ugh, don't remind me." Aster said as he brought up one paw to cover his face.
Laughing Jack asked "So are you going to let her?"
"You think I have a choice?" Aster asked, his eyebrows raised
"I suppose not, Tooth can definitely be…insistent when she wants something."
"I'd go with aggravating or annoying."
Jack laughed and was about to respond when Aster stiffened, his entire body going stiff for a moment as he breath hitched. "What's wrong? Are you ok, are you hurt? Aster what's-" Jack's rushed words were cut off when Aster covered his mouth with a single finger shushing him. Very carefully Aster took Jack's hand and brought it down to his ever growing stomach. Jack was about to say something when he too stiffened, his breath catching in his throat. He'd felt the tiniest pressure against his palm, no more than a nudge. Jack was frozen as though his powers had turned on him, but it wasn't cold he felt, it was warmth. An unbelievable warmth spreading through his body as he felt Aster's paw cover his hand, just as he felt another nudge. He slowly turned to look at Aster, his hand sandwiched between the two most important people in his life, and smiled so big his cheeks were strained. He didn't have any words to express his feelings, and he didn't need them, the look on his face saying it all just as the look on Aster's did. He leaned up and kissed his husband sweetly, unable to remember a moment when he felt this happy. The day he had married Aster came close, but this was a different kind of joy; he felt his point of view shift, the change both imperceptible and all encompassing. Feeling the touch of the child, their child made things so much more real, there truly was a little life growing within Aster and Jacked loved it more than he would have thought possible. That one touch had changed their child in Jack's mind from an idea, to something real, something tangible, something miraculous.
Jack gazed at Aster and whispered, his voice full of a sense of wonder "It's our child."
Aster smiled down at Jack and agreed "That it is."
Week 15
Jack sat in a chair in North's infirmary with his very red face buried in his hands while Aster soothingly rubbed his shoulder from his seat on the bed. "I feel like such an idiot…" Jack said.
"Don't, you just…over reacted a little." Aster said, trying and failing to keep the laughed out of his voice.
"Bunny is right Jack, besides, think of what great story you have now!" North said trying and succeeding at putting as much laughter in his voice as possible.
Jack groaned in response, he was mortified with himself. They'd been at the burrow preparing dinner when Aster had doubled over in pain, clutching his now very round stomach. Jack had immediately rushed over, concern and panic flooding him. He'd remembered how Aster had said he wasn't exactly sure how he would know it was time for the baby to be born, just that he would and Jack smashed the snow globe sending them to North's infirmary before Aster had managed to say a word. They'd arrived, Jack shouting about the baby coming, only to be told that the baby wasn't coming. The pain Aster had felt was caused by a particularly powerful kick that had cracked one of his ribs, a fact that North, Aster, and the half dozen yeti that manned the infirmary had found incredibly amusing.
Their yeti doctor, whose name was Charles, had decided to take the opportunity to do a full examination of Aster which Jack took as karma getting his husband back for laughing at him. With a clean bill of health for both Aster and their baby the two took their leave, deciding to take the tunnels instead of one of North's globes. Walking Jack noticed Aster was humming a simple little tune and thinking back he realized that his husband had been humming the same tune for weeks now. "What's that your humming?" He asked.
Aster started, looking at Jack with his brow creased in confusion "Was I humming?"
"Yes." Jack laughed "You've been humming the same song for weeks now, I just noticed it was the same though.
Aster shook his head at a loss "I honestly don't know."
"It went like this" Jack said and he hummed a brief approximation of the tune.
Aster's eyes widened slightly in recognition and he smiled "Ah, that would be an old Pooka folk song we wound sing to the kits.
"I'd love to hear it." Jack said hoping Aster would sing it for him. It had been over a hundred years into their relationship before Jack had heard Aster sing, actually sing not the mumbling he did when others were around but truly sing and he loved the sound of his husband's voice.
Aster thought for a moment and then started singing in a deep baritone voice that echoed through the tunnels, reverberating over itself until it sounded like a half dozen Aster's were all singing in harmony.
Just beyond the emerald hills
Shining in the morning dew
There's a charming little home
Where your family waits for you.
Now little one don't be afraid
No matter how far you roam
For just beyond the emerald hills
There shall always be your home.
Fear the grasping shadows not
Don't tremble at the darkness cold
For just beyond the emerald hills
There's a place the dark has no hold.
Hurry now be on your way
Walk in the light shining above
For just beyond the emerald hills
You're safe in your families love.
There ya have it, let me know what you think of this chapter ^_^